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Property And Lifestyle Opportunities In Santa Marta On Colombia…

A Top Caribbean Retirement Choice You've Probably Never Considered

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Nov 06, 2014
in Real Estate
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Santa Marta Colombia Beach Park
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Cartagena is Colombia’s number-one draw for foreign tourists. However, just 150 miles up the Caribbean coast is Santa Marta, a much lesser-known destination that offers sandy beaches, calm waters, excellent diving, an upbeat and energetic culture, and one of the best Caribbean lifestyle options you’ll find anywhere in the region.

Cartagena is a great place to visit, but it’s Santa Marta where you might want to think about settling in for retirement.

Santa Marta doesn’t have Cartagena’s impressive collection of colonial structures, but neither does it have that city’s prices or tourism annoyances. If you’re shopping for a retirement in the Caribbean, Santa Marta is an option you’ve likely not considered but that could be ideal. And with the current resurgence of the U.S. dollar versus the Colombian peso, prices in Santa Marta are better than ever. You could own your own Caribbean seaside apartment for less than US$50,000.

Columbus visited Santa Marta on his second voyage to this part of the world in 1499. It was officially founded as a city in 1525, making it the oldest in Colombia. It was here that one of Columbus’ crewmen documented the wealth and riches of the local indigenous people, giving rise to the myth of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold.

It’s always warm in Santa Marta, with highs hovering in the high-80s to low-90s year-round. The rainy season lasts from May to November, turning the surrounding mountains a lush green. It’s much drier the rest of the year.

As recently as three or four years ago, Santa Marta could have been described as a “work in progress.” The formerly seedy downtown was undergoing a rebirth that included the restoration of the town’s colonial homes, parks, and churches.

Now that work has been completed, and, today, Santa Marta is a different place. The rejuvenated downtown features an attractive seafront park, as well as small cafes, bars, coffee shops, boutique hotels, excellent seafood restaurants, and even a cruise-ship port. The long-rumored 256-slip marina is completed and operational, and tasteful condo projects have sprouted up around the area.

As you might guess, all these improvements have pushed up property prices; however, the current strength of the U.S. dollar rolls back the clock a few years.

The Santa Marta metro area extends 13 miles from Taganga in the north to the airport in the south. This stretch of Caribbean coast is home to an impressive diversity of beachside destinations:

Santa Marta City

Santa Marta city proper contains the original historic center and the cruise-ship port. This is the area that has benefited most from the recent investment in restoration. Santa Marta also includes a number of inland neighborhoods, including Bavaria, that would be great for full-time living away from any tourist traffic.

If you’re willing to be a block off the beach, you could own in Santa Marta’s refurbished downtown for less than US$100,000.

Taganga

Taganga, Santa Marta, Colombia
Henrr Pomares via Wikimedia Commons

Taganga is a small village surrounded by tall mountains and situated on an expansive, deep-blue bay. The beach is long and unspoiled and bordered by a new boardwalk. Taganga’s bay is great for diving and snorkeling. This is not the cheapest neighborhood in Santa Marta, but it’s certainly affordable. Here you could own an ocean-view condo for less than US$100,000.

El Rodadero

El Rodadero, Santa Marta, Colombia
Julieth Gómez Durán via Wikimedia Commons

El Rodadero lies about 10 minutes south of Santa Marta. Historically, this was the main draw in the area, as people sought to avoid the once-seedy historic center. The beaches are far longer, wider, and better-kept than Santa Marta’s, creating a giant crescent-shaped shoreline that’s several miles long. El Rodadero offers a small-town feel that you won’t find in the city. This is unpretentious Caribbean with a friendly, laidback feel. It’s also a very safe neighborhood.

The Southern Sector

Santa Marta’s southern sector consists of neighborhoods Rodadero Sur, Playa Salguero, Pozos Colorados, and Bello Horizonte. It lies south of Santa Marta and El Rodadero but before the airport. These areas feature quiet, well-tended, and more-exclusive beaches than in Santa Marta or El Rodadero.

This southern sector is the current direction of expansion for the region, where most of the new construction is taking place. The condo projects here are generally higher end, bigger, better finished, and offering more and nicer amenities than elsewhere.

The southern sector is also long on natural beauty. Bello Horizonte has the widest beach in the area, and most of the beaches along this stretch are frequented only by neighboring residents. There’s little to no tourism, making this a quiet, peaceful choice.

Perhaps the most affordable choice in Santa Marta is El Prado, where a two-bedroom third-floor penthouse was recently offered for 95 million Colombian pesos. At the current rate of exchange, that’s about US$46,000.

Kathleen Peddicord

 

Continue reading: This Couple Is Living The Dream Life In Medellin, Colombia

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Tags: 'Colombia'beachfront in the caribbeaninvest in colombiaProperty In Colombiaretire to colombiaRetire To The Caribbeansanta martasartagena
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Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

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